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Toto Wolff says Kimi Antonelliâs âserenity and structureâ has been a key factor in allowing the Mercedes driverâs talent to shine, after the 19-year-old won the Belgian Grand Prix. Wolff said: "We're all surprised. But what was not expected is the serenity and structure that he brought into his game. With Kimi, whether the session was good or bad, you wouldn't see a difference in emotions in the debrief. It is absolutely transactional. What is the problem? How do we solve it? How do we move on? And I think this mindset and this attitude is probably one of the main drivers that has allowed the talent to shine so early in his career."
Lando Norris says McLaren must understand why its car was so strong at Spa-Francorchamps after struggling at Silverstone, and admitted he was surprised Mercedes were not further ahead in race pace at the Belgian Grand Prix. Norris said: "But yeah, maybe I'm a little bit surprised they weren't much stronger. They still won the race, so it's not like they had a bad weekend, but we were certainly closer than we were expecting, and that's a good sign. But we don't know why. If we went back to Silverstone now, we'd still be shockingly slow and struggle with the car. So we have to understand why this track suited us so much better."
Oscar Piastri said the stewards should at least have shown Charles Leclerc a black-and-white warning flag after their contact at Les Combes during the Belgian Grand Prix was judged as requiring no further action. Piastri said: "From where I was sat, I was on the white line and got squeezed. I don't really know where I was supposed to go. I'm not saying it needed to be a penalty necessarily, but at least a black-and-white flag or something like that. If we think that that's fine... even just the incentive of knowing that you can leave everyone the absolute bare minimum space, and get away with it, it's not the nicest place to go."
Kimi Antonelli said he was âso confusedâ by the opening-lap chaos at the Belgian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen flew past him before Eau Rouge and Charles Leclerc challenged for position. Antonelli said: "It was crazy. To be fair, I was so confused of what was happening because Max came flying past me before Eau Rouge and then I passed him back, but then I saw Charles had almost come alongside me and I was like 'what the heck is happening?!' like I had no clue. I was just trying to hold a position on track... but yeah, it was a crazy start but luckily we got away cleanly."
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies says Isack Hadjarâs drive from 21st on the grid to sixth at the Belgian Grand Prix was his âbest raceâ since joining the team. Mekies said: "Look, I think it is his best race. It is the best race with us, no question. Honestly, it's not only a spike, it has been just a little bit better every single race for speed. Today is another step, this weekend is another step, because he was very, very fast from FP1. He was very, very strong. His pace was top three pace, so [I'm] very happy with his progress."
Arvid Lindblad says Racing Bulls âreally maximisedâ the performance of the teamâs new upgrade package at the Belgian Grand Prix, after finishing ninth at Spa-Francorchamps with the update fitted to his car. Lindblad said: "Definitely it's been a very strong weekend for us. I think we've really maximised in each session."
Charles Leclerc said his lap-eight clash with Oscar Piastri at the Belgian Grand Prix was âtoo closeâ after the pair made high-speed contact at Les Combes during the race at Spa-Francorchamps. Leclerc said: "Well, I would prefer to speak about lap one, to be honest, but lap eight was too close. Luckily, it didn't have any consequences for either my race or his race, so that's good."
Lewis Hamilton said his five-second penalty for causing a collision with George Russell on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix was unfair, insisting it was a racing incident after contact at Les Combes put Russell out of the race. Hamilton said: "I mean, I think it was a racing incident, so obviously I didn't think it should have been a penalty, but it is what it is."
Martin Brundle says Formula 1 needs to move on from the current rules because they are hurting racing on high-speed circuits, after recent weekends at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. Brundle said: "I think we're all still struggling to understand it, to be honest. I've got a bit of a tear in my eye, because we've lost all the great corners at Silverstone and here we are at Spa with the same situation. These new regulations hurt us on the high-speed circuits."
Williams has been reprimanded after the FIA stewards found Alex Albonâs rear light was not illuminated when car 23 left the pit lane for the pre-race reconnaissance laps at the Belgian Grand Prix. The issue was fixed before the start, but the stewards said a rear light is âan essential safety deviceâ and therefore âsee no basis to refrain from imposing a penaltyâ, reminding teams it must be âchecked thoroughly and maintained in proper working order at all timesâ.
Toto Wolff says George Russell and Mercedes both share responsibility for the British driverâs deficit to team-mate Kimi Antonelli during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Wolff said: "Probably half of it is to be attributed to the power unit that wasn't as good as it should have been on his side, and on the other side, maybe on the driving. But we are in this together. We all make mistakes. [In Spa], it was a mistake that the team did. Another day it is going to be the mistake of the driver. We just need to minimise it and support each other."
Oscar Piastri says Formula 1 qualifying in 2026 can be decided by power unit energy-management systems rather than the driver, after he lost significant time to McLaren team-mate Lando Norris at Spa-Francorchamps despite running identical settings. Piastri said: "It sucks. I can't really say it any other way than that... So, you know, when you've got qualifying grids decided by computers behaving or misbehaving, it's a pretty crap way of going racing... when you come in from a qualifying session, you look at all the corners and go, 'I'm on par with my team-mate and yet I'm two tenths behind at the end of it'. It's not a very nice feeling."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team should probably have pitted Lando Norris during the Virtual Safety Car. Stella said: "At the time we were a little concerned of such a long stint on the medium tyres, and we thought that the pace would be good enough that in case of another Safety Car or Virtual then Lando would have been in a strong position. With perfect hindsight and having seen the pace of Lando on the medium, and the fact that unlike the first stint the medium tyre [seemed] to be holding on relatively well, I think we should have given it a go. Lando ultimately lost some time being overtaken while staying out and there was no further Safety Car."
Sergio Perez says he thought his Formula 1 career could be over when he left Red Bull, after describing his final six months with the team as âtoxicâ. Perez said: "I didn't know at that time if I wanted to come back. When I left F1, I really thought it could be it, and I was ready for it. I'm very grateful, I wouldn't come back at any cost."
George Russell has insisted he will ânot stop fightingâ after retiring on the first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix following a collision with Lewis Hamilton at Les Combes. The Mercedes driver said an issue with battery recharge and deployment after Turn 1 left him âswampedâ on the Kemmel straight and put him in the wrong place for the contact. In a social media post, Russell wrote: âKnocked down, we get back up⌠So many tough moments this year but I will not stop fighting.â
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martinâs major upgrade, due to debut at this weekendâs Hungarian Grand Prix, will not influence his decision on whether to compete in the 2027 Formula 1 season, which he has said he will make over the upcoming summer break. Alonso said: "Nothing. Nothing because my decision is not about the performance of this year. This year we started on the wrong foot. I cannot base my decision for next year on a performance that is not realistic. This is not the true potential of the team. It's much higher than what we see."
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